WHEN YOU HAVE TO FISH, YOU HAVE TO FISH, DO IT IN SPITE OF THE WEATHER FORECAST!

We had planned to fish on Monday so when the weather man said 5 degrees C, strong winds and the risk of showers we did hesitate!  But then you can wrap up, don fancy head gear, break out the finger-less mitts and wear two pairs of thick socks and if all else fails skin is waterproof!

In the end we had wind and sun, cloud and a 10 minute snow shower but we survived and we even caught.

Malcolm was the first to catch but Richard (pictured above and below) had only been fishing the Wood Lodge Pool for 15 minutes when he caught on a blood worm with long rubber legs. 

 Later we moved down to Mill House Lake and found some fish deep by the monk.  I caught on a gold head daddy with rubber legs.

 The monk (seen below) is the name given to the outflow structure one side of which features a series of wooden slats.  The level of the lake is controlled by the height of the slats.  When the lake is to be drained the slats are removed and the water flows into the structure and down a pipe at the bottom.  The monk is always at the deep end of the lake, where fish may hang out in very cold or very warm weather. 

 Malcolm (below), well wrapped up, survived the snow shower but missed his fingerless mitts.

So we all came away with a brace each.  The fish were all 2lb plus and one was a 3, all in perfect fighting condition.

I noticed on the Albury web site that there was an aerial video of the lakes we had been fishing. You can see it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPF1W-ZyaxM&feature=youtu.be

Crucial protection when teaching a grandson to fly fish.

A few days ago I had the pleasure and privilege of giving Sam, my 15 year old grandson his first boat fly fishing experience.  He lives at Milton Keynes so that gave us the excuse of going to Grafham Water, around an hours drive away.  Grafham is a well run fishery, where they even provide drogues and landing nets (for reasons I wont go into here).  They have a superb tackle shop and allowed my grandson and I to fish on the same 6 fish ticket.  I had not fished the water for several years so asked where we should concentrate.  The weather was a bit contrary blowing a gale with bright sun.  Eventually we found the fish down by the dam, but it was tricky fishing as the wind was blowing us onto the dam.  I insisted on Sam wearing eye protection, he had forgotten to bring his sunglasses but fortunately so I gave him an expensive pair my son Stuart had left in my car.  Sam then forgot to bring those in the boat, fortunately I had got another spare pair in my fishing bag!  A hat is a good idea too Sam!

To cut a long story short Sam cast well, fished well and was rewarded with a brace of cracking rainbows caught on blood worm flies.  Here is the first one.

I am sad when I see people fishing without eye protection, having buried a hook in my own face a couple of times, I don't think it is worth the risk of getting one in the eye!